You should have found this difficult because the first sentence is not a topic sentence: the rest of the paragraph is not about the chess festival, the conference or the exhibition. In this respect it is similar to paragraphs two and four. It may seem to be more coherent though, because the argumentation follows a logical pattern, which is typical of paragraphs in some non-English cultures.
The paragraph begins with examples (There was a European Chess Festival for persons with special needs, a conference entitled 'Aristotle and Contemporary Science') and specific statements (sport, linked in the Greek mind to the original Olympic games, mathematics and the sciences, pure and applied, as represented by Pythagoras and Archimedes, for example...) and moves towards a conclusion (Therefore, the definition of culture implicit within the organisation of the event was extremely wide). While this is perfectly normal and correct in many languages, in English it is incoherent.
Rearrange the seven jumbled sentences, which have been modified slightly, to produce a better, more coherent paragraph according to English conventions:
Mathematics and the sciences, pure and applied, as represented by Pythagoras and Archimedes, for example, are naturally included.
This reflected the Greek's holistic concept of culture as virtually synonymous with 'civilisation' and 'society' or at least for the cohesive and positive forces that hold society together.
For example, there was a European Chess Festival for persons with special needs, a conference entitled 'Aristotle and Contemporary Science' - part of a series concerning the ancient philosopher organised by the University - and an international conference entitled 'Technologies of the Sea'.
Therefore alongside the visual art exhibitions, concerts and theatre, sporting and recreational events were organised and technology exhibitions were co-organised with the Aristotle University.
As Greeks like to present Greece as the cradle of European culture, it is in their interests to embrace as large a definition of culture as possible.
The definition of culture implicit within the organisation of the event was extremely wide.
Sport also has an important role, linked in the Greek mind to the original Olympic games.
Click here for the answer or here for just the first sentence.
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© 2002 Martin Paterson